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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The ________________ was so hot, it burned my tongue.
  2. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  5. Is that Pat Hanrahan's ________________ looking hungry and willing.
  6. I like to ________________ a cookie in coffee.
  7. A lot of friends came to ________________ goodbye to me.
  8. They watched the sun ________________ below the horizon.
  9. The surfers were looking for the perfect ________________.
  10. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  11. The ________________ found him guilty of stealing money.
  12. I felt an uncomfortable tightness in my ________________.
  13. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  14. The lid of the ________________ creaked open.
  15. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  16. Where did you ________________ them?
  17. When a clown is made king, the ________________ becomes a circus.
  18. I am seized by an uncontrollable ________________ of sadness.
  19. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  20. The ball is in your ________________.
  21. He refilled his coffee ________________.
  22. She laid her head on my ________________ so she could listen to my heartbeat.
  23. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  24. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. dip — a sauce
  2. kid — to tease
  3. drill — a practice
  4. straw — a straw man
  5. mug — a face
  6. dip — to dunk
  7. wave — with your hand
  8. dip — to sink
  9. wave — of the sea
  10. kid — child
  11. court — of law
  12. chest — of your body
  13. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  14. chest — a box
  15. straw — to clutch at straws
  16. mug — to rob
  17. court — of a king
  18. wave — a sudden rise
  19. drill — army training
  20. court — for sport
  21. mug — a cup
  22. chest — of your body
  23. straw — dry grass
  24. drill — the tool

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com